Caitie's Travels

Photos: Heading East in the search for Moose!

cokeeffe — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:23:00 GMT

We headed out to Nova Scotia to visit friends and go on a search for a moose. We were successful on both fronts! We also saw our first ice hockey game and experienced the beautiful autumn colours of Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Photos: Quirky Quebec

cokeeffe — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:57:00 GMT

A couple of days exploring the World Heritage Listed town of Quebec City, including a trip to see Mont Morency Falls, complete with a rainbow at the bottom!

Photos: J'Aime Montreal!

cokeeffe — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 05:52:00 GMT

a couple of days in Montreal, where we cycled along the waterfront and canals, past the rapids, across the Olympic park and clocked a lap on the Grand Prix track. We also caught the Chinese Lantern Festival, admired the nighttime view from the top of Mont Royal and released our inner child in the Science Museum. Oh and found raccoons... lots and lots of raccoons!

Photos: Niagara Falls & Toronto

cokeeffe — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 05:29:00 GMT

A two day trip to Niagara Falls, and bits and pieces of Toronto (including my first taste of dumplings AND poutine!)

Buffalo's, Broken Bones & Banana Bread: Summer Camp in Canada

cokeeffe — Tue, 6 Sep 2011 02:21:00 GMT

After a lifetime of dreaming of attending a summer camp, it all felt a little surreal as the buses pulled into the camp road. We twisted and turned our way through the bush along a dirt road until we reached what was to become my home for the next couple of months... Camp White Pine. The camp began with greatings from the head staff and a quick introduction to your section, then it was unload the baggage and off to the dining hall for the start of my summer camp adventure... and what an adventure it was! I could easily write a novel about all of my camp experiences, but I have tried to summarise what I feel are the most interesting ones!

You may be wondering, why the title? I guess I can break up my summer into three core sections... buffalo's is the term given to rubbish lying on the ground, and I certainly did a lot of buffalo hunts! It also represents the new lingo that I had to pick up, and also the words I would use that no-one would understand. Broken bones is fairly self-explanatory, and is there because I broke my very first bone this summer! (more on that later)... and Banana Bread, because that was the tastiest food that we had on camp!

First things first... the lingo. I swear I speak English, but sometimes I felt like I was talking another language! I was with the Kiwi age group, who are around 8 & 9 years old, so I guess they haven't come across a lot of the words I would use for things. For example, they had no idea what a torch was, had never heard of Vegemite (!!), giggled when I talked about putting on my thongs, looked at me strangely when I cursed the mozzie's and asked them to pass the cordial. Togs, Capsicums, Beannies, Jumper and Gherkins also left them mystified! Over the summer I taught them the meaning of most of these words, and they even started using some of them. However, people still don't understand when I talk about what we might be doing 'this arvo', and some even don't understand me when I say 'towel'! It was certainly a learning experience! I also got asked more than once if I was from England, I guess I picked up a little bit of an English accent when I was living there! :S

But onto the Broken Bones... So I went on a bikes trip on my day off with some of the older kids to the mountain bike park down the road. It is a ski resort that they use for bikes in the summer, and had some great tracks to ride. It also had what they called a magic carpet (essentially a large escalator up the hill) to get to the top. Certainly beats riding up! I went down a couple of runs, including some black ones, which were great fun. I came off a couple of times on steep bits but nothing major. On our last run (ofcourse) I was building up for a bit of a jump at the end and hit a rock. The bike got the wobbles so I squeezed what I thought was the back break to slow down a little. However, Canadian brakes are the reverse side to Australian bikes... So I actually put on the front brake, which sent me flying over the handle bars into metre high grass. I did the crocodile roll with my bike a couple of times before landing in a heap underneath it. I was winded and thought that was all, until I tried to lift my bike off me and couldn't. Soon a couple of people came to help and I sat up, and as the shock wore off a little I realised my left shoulder really, REALLY hurt. After a couple of minutes I tried to stand up to walk to the end of the track, and my legs turned to jelly and I ended up back on the ground fairly promptly! An ambulance was called and so I stayed where I was and waited. In my shocked state I was totally expecting a Queensland Ambulance to pull up! I was a little confused when the Canadian version turned up. They put me on a back board and in a neck brace and transferred me into the van. Then came the most painful part... the drive back down the bike track! It was just a little bumpy... Once we reached the hospital they gave me some pain killers and did xrays. The doctor's words where "You've broken your collarbone... you've done a pretty decent break!". They put me in a sling and with a script for more pain killers in hand I was sent on my way. Back at camp I promptly headed to bed for a nap, they were pretty decent pain killers! My kids made me get well letters and presents, and all offered me there spare pillows to prop up my arm. The two other counsellors I was with (Amanda and Maddie) and our sleep in (Carly) were all amazing in being very understanding and helping me get dressed. I felt really bad that I couldn't do anything... I couldn't even brush my own hair! I have never felt so utterly helpless and useless. Carly became my personal nurse and would help me dress and took care of me, including being my mother in some respects ("No Cait, you can't go to town night on the same day that you broke your shoulder. You can't even stand for 2 minutes without wanting to hurl! It's not going to happen"). I really appreciated having people around me that were so understanding. The first couple of days after it happened are a bit hazy, I spent most of them asleep or in bed as the painkillers made me quite nauseous and drowsy. I was lucky in that the onsite doctor's husband was an orthopaedic surgeon and he had a look at the xrays and checked out my shoulder. He suggested a different brace after a week in the sling, which was a god-send as I could then move my arm a lot more and be a lot more helpful. After a week the camp moved me to work on Glass, which I really enjoyed and I could actually do most things in, especially towards the end of the camp. The staff at the camp were fantastic in looking after me and letting me take the time to get better. Seven weeks later, my shoulder is just about fully healed... I no longer have any pain and I have full movement back. I just have to work on getting my strength back and I'm working on that one!

So Banana Bread... if you haven't tried the banana bread here, then you simply haven't lived! I included Banana bread though so I could comment on the food at camp. For the first week, it all tastes amazing. After that, it gets quite repetitive and you begin to dread eating a little... There is a LOT of pasta, bread and tomato pasta sauce. I never thought I would say this, but I'm sick of pasta! (Yes mum, you never thought that would happen!). The bread is amazing, as it is cooked by a French Pastry Chef...it goes very well with vegemite and butter! There were some meals that were not great for vegetarians, I got especially frustrated when everyone else got beef stir fry, and the vegetarians got tomato pasta... again. We also had to fight to get our food, as it was served from the middle tables in the dining hall, and it was a bit of a free-for-all. I survived though, and in Fall I'm allowed to cook my own food if I want, and the kitchen staff often cook me something special anyway. There were some pretty special meals that we had on camp, my particular favourite we called 'The Cookie', it was a giant half-baked cookie topped with icecream, and when they bought that out for dessert the dining hall went mad! Kids were screaming, counsellors where guarding the dessert with their lives and chants of 'its the cookie! it's the cookie! where heard throughout the dining hall. And the madness was totally justified. It was a very VERY tasty dessert.

Summer camp in some ways is very similar to the movies - I got to do a lot of different activities with the kids, go on a canoe trip (across the lake), make s'mores, go canoeing, swimming, do arts and crafts... and then I got to work on one activity and learn a new skill. The experience of being in a dining hall full of 700 chanting people all cheering for their section (KIWIS ARE THE BEST... BOOM!), the intense competition of the all day and half-day programs, seeing groups of kids build giant camp fires to melt a rope to win the day... Wow. Just...Wow. The spirit that is felt on camp is hard to describe, but it bonds you with the people around you, and for these kids that come back year after year, it is easy to see how this place is truly their home away from home.

I am glad that I chose to come to camp, a lot of things were as I expected, but there was a lot that took a bit to get used to. Overall it was a great experience and I have made friends that I will never forget. If this is something you are contemplating doing... DO IT! (Just be careful on the bikes... ;)

Photos: Good Times, Happy Memories

cokeeffe — Thu, 1 Sep 2011 09:07:00 GMT

Pictures from working at Camp White Pine during the Fall (Autumn)

Photos: Summer Camp Snaps

cokeeffe — Thu, 1 Sep 2011 07:56:00 GMT

Photos from Summer at Camp White Pine in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada.

Photos: 80s Roller Disco

cokeeffe — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:44:00 GMT

Fluro Clothes, Leg Warmers, Blue Eye Shadow and we got PHYSICAL at Roller Disco!

Farewell London Town!

cokeeffe — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:43:00 GMT

The countdown is on!

I have had a pretty amazing final week in London. It started on Wednesday with the second State of Origin game, which I watched at the Shepherd’s Bush Walkabout Pub with a couple of hundred like-minded aussies… although there seemed to be an inordinately large amount of NSW fans in attendance! Unfortunately Queensland lost, but at least that will make for an exciting third game in a couple of weeks. It’s exciting to think that I’ll be on camp by then!!

On Thursday night I went to see the Graham Norton show with my housemate Sandra and her friend. The special guests for the night were Cameron Diaz, Bear Gryllz and an American Comedian. We were very lucky and ended up with front row seats, a mere 10 metres away from the guest couch! The show was hilarious, especially when Bear demonstrated his survival skills by filtering Graham’s wine through his sock (that he pulled off his foot). Then all the guests had a drink of the filtered wine!! Following this Bear nonchalantly put his wine soaked sock back on his foot. The audience was in hysterics! At the end of the show the guests walked right in front of us, we could have touched them they were so close. It was kind of surreal to be so close to people you would usually see up on the big screen… You almost forget that they are real people sometimes! I thought they were all really funny, honest and down to earth people.

Friday was my last day of supply teaching, which I was just a little bit excited about! It was an average day, and I was very glad to get home and relax. The girls were going to come over for a dvd night, but they were all sick so I had a nice quiet night watching movies with my housemate Sandra instead!

On Saturday we all got dressed up in our finest 80's costumes and headed to a roller disco at Vauxhall. It was so much fun! There was fluro clothes and legwarmers everywhere you looked, not to mention to horribly bright eye make up and crimped hair! After a couple of hours rolling around the floor we put on our dancing shoes and headed to the Walkabout Pub at Temple. We danced up a storm on the dancefloor and stayed til the wee hours of the morning, afterwards making sure everyone got to their buses safely to take us all home to bed. The next morning my legs were quite stiff from all the skating and dancing (not to mention gym session). It was a great send-off. I spent the Sunday recovering and beginning to pack up my belongings to be shipped home or taken to Canada, and after starting up my computer realised that it was in the process of dying! I spent a while sending texts and photos back and forth to my brother back home to try and diagnose the problem, and eventually came to the conclusion that it was broked beyond my capabilities! A bit of googling brought up a reasonably priced company in the local area who boasted same day service... sounded like we had our winner! Just one more thing to add to my list of things to get done over the next two days!

On Monday night I headed out to dinner with the girls for a last farewell before I left. We met at Thai Square in Covent Garden, and enjoyed a very scrumptious thai dinner. I enjoyed spending a nice meal with the girls before I headed off, though it was sad to say goodbye to them all! It has been great having a really nice group of people to share my time in London with, and its always good to have other friends going through the same emotions with teaching!

Tuesday was spent frantically trying to get all the last minute things done, eventually ending up at the Teddy Bears Picnic with the Brownies in the park. I ended up running quite late as my laptop was late getting fixed, but it was still a really nice afternoon and the girls had a great time picnicing with their teddy's! It was a nice way to celebrate my time with them in London. It has been really interesting seeing how Guides works in another country, and seeing the same old frustrating things happening here as well! At least it is reassuring that its not just us, that other people have the same problems and annoyances that we have. Puts everything in perspective really! I will miss being at Guides every week for the next couple of months, but hopefully we can organise some sort of penpal system with my Guide unit back home.

Wednesday was quite a calm day really, I spent the morning doing final packing and then headed off to the airport. The flight was quite pleasant, as I had upgraded to club class so felt like a princess in a nice comfy chair with good food and arm space! It was nice to just sit and relax after the crazy couple of days. I arrived in Toronto to clouds and some rain, but it was so very humid! The weather here feels very similar to Queensland's weather, so I should feel right at home. I found the backpackers with no problems at all and settled in, trying to keep myself awake for a bit before heading to bed for some well deserved sleep!

I’ve learnt a lot in 6 months of teaching in London. It has been really challenging at times, but also really rewarding. I’ve proven to myself that I can survive in tough situations, though I much more enjoy working with friendly kids who actually want to be at school! What teacher wouldn’t though?? I’ve collected a whole heap of ideas to take home with me, and I’m already starting to think about how I want to organize my classroom next year, regardless of what grade I have. Teaching in London has made me realize I do love teaching, and its also opened my eyes to how great Australian kids and schools really are. Its been an amazing experience… but I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my travels!

A Sojourn into Southern Italy

cokeeffe — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 19:44:00 GMT

Day one was the battle of public transport! I flew into Rome Fiumicino Airport, and after a failed attempt at trying to find the bus that went to the city centre I headed for the train station instead. I managed to navigate my way through the confusing ticket selling machine and found the platform that said ‘Termini’ (the main station in the city centre that I was heading for). I got on the train and sat back to enjoy the journey into Rome. After a while I realized that I no longer recognized any of the station names on my map… and after a quick check on the GPS program on my phone, realized that I had bypassed the city centre and was now heading out of Rome! I got off at the next stop and caught the train back towards the city centre. Three trains later I was back where I was hoping to be! After this I had to catch a bus, which I did with no dramas. I found the campsite, settled in and went on a search for food, as I hadn’t eaten for around 5 hours. I unearthed a vending machine in the laundry and settled for that until later. After some munchies I settled in for a well deserved nap (I was running on around 3 hours sleep at this point). I had dinner at the campsite restaurant, which was an acceptable but unimpressive pizza, made much better by a couple of glasses of wine! One of my favourite things about Italy is that even the house wines are always pretty tasty! I spent the rest of the night planning the following days re-discovery of Rome. I was aiming for my favourite places from my last visit, as well as trying to discover some new ones.

The next day I was on a mission to rediscover Rome. And rediscover it I did! I started off the day at the Vatican Museum, I mainly wanted to see the Sistine Chapel again. It was definitely worth the entry fee, I love walking through the amazing opulent surrounds of the halls of the Vatican. It is chock full of artwork from history, including giant wall tapestries that are hundreds of years old. I was going to go into St Peter’s Basillica, but I decided it wasn’t worth the hour long cue to get in, as I had already been inside before and had also climbed to the top of the Cupola on a previous visit. I walked across the river and found the Piazza Navona, home of the Fontana dei Quottro (Fountain of Four Rivers). After that I continued across to the Pantheon, which was unfortunately closed by the time I got there as today was a public holiday. Much to my delight I managed to find my favourite restaurant from my previous visit, and enjoyed a scrumptious plate of four cheeses gnocchi and a nice cold crisp white wine. After resting my feet during lunch I continued my trek east to the Trevi Fountain, which was absolutely packed with people! I couldn’t get close enough to throw a coin in, but I’m sure I’ll return to Rome again anyway. I sat down for a little while in the shade and watched the people throng around the fountain. After this I headed to the closes metro station to try and find the San Callisto Catacombs, which are the largest in Rome. I got off at the appropriate metro station and realized my map didn’t cover this part of town, and neither did my offline GPS program on my phone… I was on my own! Ofcourse there was no one around to ask directions, so I started walking down what I thought was the right road. I saw a bus stop which fortunately had a map of the local area inside, which very considerately informed me that “you are here” and at lease confirmed I was walking down the correct street. It also marked the catacombs, which was very handy. So I took a photo of the map and kept walking, checking my progress at each bus stop I came to. I kept walking… and walking… and walking some more! Then it started raining, gently at first but soon rather heavily! Thankfully I’d had the foresight to pack my umbrella. Eventually after almost an hour of walking I found the catacombs, and it was definitely worth it! They were used until the 4^th Century, and a huge amount of Catholics were buried here (I can’t remember the exact figure), including 6 popes. There are four levels of crisscrossing underground passages that cover around 20 km, although we were only allowed down to the second level with our guide. We had a guided tour by a volunteer Phillipino priest, and it was quite awe enspiring to see the engineering achievements of people 2 thousand years ago! After my visit I headed back to the metro station (I took the bus this time, now that I knew which ones to catch!) While I was waiting for the bus I watched a lady do the worst reverse park ever, in the tiniest car I have ever seen! It took a good 10 minutes and she hit both the car behind and infront of here. And it was a horrible park in the end! I got another pizza from the restaurant for dinner as I was too tired to find anywhere else.

Day three was the start of my tour down to Southern Italy. We met our tour guide John and boarded the busabout bus to begin our drive down to Pompeii. We drove past Naples, and had a great view of Mount Vesuvius overlooking the city. On arriving at Pompeii we were taken on a two hour walking tour of the ruins, which took us through the day to day life of the people who lived there, and what evidence we can see today. We were shown the original ‘pedestrian crossing’, three stones which allowed people to walk across the street without walking through the sewage. We saw the town squares, the shops, the residences and some ancient tiles that have remained to today. One house had a tile mosaic of a dog bearing the inscription for ‘Beware of the Dog!”. There were plaster moulds on display of the people as they tried to flee the volcanic ash falling all around them. They made these by pumping plaster into the gaps they found in the volcanic rock, which were left after the people had decayed. It was very interesting but sad at the same time. It is amazing how well preserved the city is. One of the most interesting places was the brothel, it had pictures on the wall of the menu – the services which the patrons would choose from. Around the area were three dimensional phallis’ on the walls and ground that would point the way to the brothels! Apparently it was quite a trade back in the day. After our tour we enjoyed pizza from the home of pizza – Naples. It was everything I was hoping for from a Naples pizza – fresh, saucy and cheesy! We then headed further south to Sorrento, which was to be our home for the next two days. After checking into the campsite we caught the bus down to the town and enjoyed a tasty dinner of pasta and more pizza, followed by tiramisu for dessert and ofcourse, some local wine. We were then taken to a local cocktail bar for some tasty cocktails before heading back to camp to sleep.

Saturday was quite possibly my favourite day in Italy. We caught a boat over to the Island of Capri for the day. On the ride over we enjoyed the amazing views on the bright sunny day that we were blessed with, and stopped at the Blue Grotto once we got to the Island. The Blue Grotto has a tiny entrance that only just fits a boat the size of a large canoe, and all the passengers have to lie down to fit through! The smaller boats row out to the large tourist boats to collect four passengers at a time to take in. Technically you are not allowed to swim in the Blue Grotto, but we were given the tip by our tour guide that if you tip the boatman inside the cave, he will let you swim for a little bit. We took this advice on board and were able to swim for a couple of minutes inside, it was a pretty cool experience! The Blue Grotto is a fairly sizable cave that has a small entrance, but the amazingly beautiful blue light filters through under the water from outside, and the water is so very clear. It was just beautiful! After we had all been inside we landed in Capri, and caught a convertible taxi with a group to the top town of Ana Capri. From Ana Capri we went up the chairlift to the top of Monte Solaro, the highest point on the Island. We were rewarded with absolutely stunning views of the Island and the harbor full of boats. After finding a nice shady spot we enjoyed a picnic of panini’s overlooking the island. We had a bit of fun taking photos (including some silly one’s) before heading back down the chairlift, and caught a bus down to Capri. Our tour guide had given us some suggestions for good gelato shops, so we walked down to the coast via one of those, and I enjoyed some very tasty melon gelato. The path down the beach had some pretty stunning views of the blue water and surrounding area. Once we got to the bottom we chilled on the beach for a little while and went swimming. I couldn’t get over how clear the water was!! Unfortunately the time came for us to board our boat once more, and we relaxed as we headed back towards the mainland. Most of the tour decided to have dinner at the campsite restaurant, and I had some tasty gnocchi with tomato and parmesan, followed by pannacotta. Yum! I also enjoyed some more wine, and we all partook in Lemoncello shots, the drink of the region. After our Lemoncello, Tour Guide John suggested a side adventure to those who were game… this involved a short walk to a moon pool that he had been told about by a local. By the light of our mobile phones we found the moon pool but intelligently decided against swimming in it at night! Instead we headed back to the campsite for a late night swim.

The following day was a little dreary as it was overcast and there were some rain showers predicted. We departed the campsite early as we were driving the Amalfi coast road, and wanted to beat the other tourist buses! We started at a local fruit stand for breakfast, and I had some tasty strawberries and possible the best pistachio nuts of my life! We continued along the road, enjoying the views as we twisted and turned our way along the coast. At Amalfi we had a long stop to do a bit of sightseeing, and wandered through the shops trying to avoid the rain. I had a very tasty pastry for morning tea and enjoyed the views in this little coastal town. Back on the bus, we continued on our trek, blasting Pavarotti as we drove the twisting road to Ravello. At Ravello we stopped for lunch, and on John’s recommendation we headed to a small Panini shop where they make your sandwhich as you wait, cutting the cheese and meat fresh in front of you. I was pretty impressed with the result, it was the best Panini I had in Italy! We ate in the town square overlooking the terraced wineries on the neighbouring hills, and were even treated to a wedding party coming out of the town church! There were also fireworks going off on one of the hills, but we weren’t sure what they were for. After our brief stop in Ravello we boarded the bus once more to begin the trip back to Rome. I had dinner once again at the campsite restaurant with some of the friends I had made on the tour. I had the pasta this time, which was better than the pizzas!

I had one more day left before departing Italy, and I headed into Rome again with two friends from my tour. We went to the Crypt of the Capuchin Monks first, in which they have made artworks out of the many bones that were in their previous crypt before they moved location. It is a mixture of creepy and cool, and was somewhere I had remembered from my last trip to Europe (I thought it was in Spain though… my mistake!). We had been given another suggestion for a good gelato shop by our tour guide, and we made a beeline for this… and it definitely lived up to its reputation! I can without a doubt say that it was the best gelato I have EVER tasted. I had a mixture of Honey and Pear, and it was a delectable delight. It was called San Cristo, and was near the Barberini Metro Stop. Definitely worth a trip! It didn’t open until 11 though, so we sat by the Trevi Fountain to pass the time. After gelato we found somewhere for lunch and I enjoyed another margarita pizza. At this point we parted ways, as the girls had to go back and pack for their flight. I continued on to the pantheon as I wanted to go inside again, I love the effect of the daylight streaming in through the hole in the roof! I walked south past the roman forum and colosseum, and round to the church with the Mouth of Truth (Chiesa di Santa Maria in Cosmedin). Legend has it that if you put your right hand into its mouth and tell a lie then it will cut off your hand! I still have all my limbs, so obviously no lies! After checking out the church I headed back to the metro for the trip across town for one last trip to the Vatican. I went into St Peters Basilica and walked around in awe of its sheer size. It’s the largest church in the world, and it makes you feel like an ant as you walk its length. Photos really don’t do its size justice. At this point my feet felt like they were about to fall off, so I headed back to the campsite to get my things together for my flight. I had booked an airport transfer through the campsite this time – no wrong trains for me! Traffic got a little heavy on the highway, so the driver took us on a back road through the countryside, we passed green fields and rolled hay which was very scenic! Once I was at the airport I enjoyed my last Italian Panini for dinner before waiting for my flight back to London town. My flight was delayed an hour (although no one actually told us what was happening in this time, very annoying and the crowds were getting a little frustrated!). By the time I got back to my house it was 3am… I very gratefully fell into bed!

Italy is definitely one of my favourite countries in the world. And the food count? 4 pizzas, 3 pastas, 3 paninis and 3 flavours of gelato in 5 days. I will definitely be returning to this amazing country in the future! It has great food, stunning sights and interesting ruins… who wouldn’t want to come back??!!

Photos: When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...

cokeeffe — Thu, 9 Jun 2011 06:29:00 GMT

A quick trip over to Italy to explore Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast

Photos: Exploring Bath

cokeeffe — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:40:00 GMT

a day trip to the lovely English town of Bath.

The sights, sounds, smells and shopping bargains of Turkey!

cokeeffe — Tue, 3 May 2011 02:52:00 GMT

Day One

My journey to Istanbul began with an epic bus journey, it was a very comfortable bus but unfortunately stopped every hour or so to pick up more passengers! After 5 hours of driving we reached the Greece/Turkey border, at which points we handed our passports in and they were returned to us a couple of times, which became slightly stressful as I tried to keep track of where mine was! Eventually we successfully passed through to the Turkish side of the border, where I bought my visa without a problem. Unfortunately for the English boys behind me things didn’t go so smoothly as they had no cash, and the cash machine wasn’t working! As I had already been chatting to them a little and figured they deserved a break, I loaned them the money on the proviso that they would pay me back when we got to the bus station in Istanbul. From here our bus journey continued, and eventually we reached Istanbul. We drove into the bus station, at which point started a rather confusing hour of trying to understand what the bus driver was saying, and where we should get off! There were around 8 of us all trying to get to the same area, and all thoroughly confused as to what was going on. It didn’t help that we hadn’t got much sleep on the bus through the night! Eventually, after much sign language and repeating of key words, we were pointed in the direction of the metro station, at which point I followed the instructions provided by my hostel. We caught a train to Aksaray, then squashed onto the jam-packed trams to Sultanahmet. From here we walked around 10 minutes to our respective hostels, that all turned out to be within about 2 blocks of each other! I finally found my friends Sam and Sarah, an even managed to score a free breakfast from the hostel. Win! Once we had satisfied our appetites (for a short time at least) we headed off to some of the local museums to avoid the rain. We started off at the Yerebatan Cistern Museum, which is an underground cistern, built by a Byzantinian Emperor. It is 140m long by 70m, and is a giant underground rectangular structure held up by seemingly endless rows of ancient columns. They are lit up, which provides an amazing atmosphere and also creates a very cool reflection in the water. Many photos were taken! After leaving the cistern we headed down the road to the Archeological Museum, which housed a vast collection of pieces of art from throughout Turkey’s history. We saw marble sculptures (because I didn’t see enough of THEM in Greece!), the traditional Turkish blue tiles, stone sculptures, small figurines, amongst others. It was quite interesting to peruse another countries collection of ancient works! Once we had finished at the museum we followed the rumbling of our tummies to a local Turkish restaurant where we all enjoyed a Turkish pide and some Turkish tea. Very tasty and very filling! From here we headed up the road to the Grand Bazaar, where we got lost in the endless sea of jewellery, clothes, shoes, scarves, rugs and pottery. We practiced our bargaining skills and made several purchases for ourselves and others, mainly jewellery with some other things thrown in for good measure! It was quite a fun and interesting experience to wander and peruse the items for sale. Eventually we were exhausted from our wanderings, so we headed to a Turkish delight shop that Sam had visited the day before. It was SO cheap and VERY tasty! I purchased a piece of a variety of flavours – ginger, mint, kiwi, orange, cherry, rose petal… We walked on munching our purchases and admired the Blue Mosque in the afternoon sunlight, along with the Hagias Sofia. We stopped to take photos of the giant tulips and to sit for a while before heading back to the hostel to chill out for a while before dinner. We headed down the road for dinner, and ended up at a bar/restaurant. Dinner was quite tasty, I had Mediterranean vegetable pasta with a tomato sauce followed by some Turkish apple tea for dessert. After dinner we headed back to our hostel via the Blue Mosque to take some photos of it lit up at night.

Day Two

We started off this morning at Topkapi Palace, the palace used by the Sultan until the 19th Century. It was built during the Ottoman Empire, and covers a vast amount of land. It was opulently decorated and had beautiful well maintained grounds, full of spring flowers and lush green grass. The view wasn’t bad either! After departing the palace we headed north to find the spice bazaar. Our senses were pleasantly delighted as they took the sights and smells of the many spices, olives, cheeses and Turkish delight on offer in the numerous stalls. After perusing (and sampling) many different foods, we purchased some Turkish delight, pistachio nougat and a variety of olives that we consumed sitting in the sunny square outside. We also tried what we called ‘Golden Balls’, which were small balls of batter filled with syrup... they were so very, very sweet and tasty! After a while of sitting and eating we headed over the bridge to the Asian side of Istanbul and headed up the hill to the Galata Tower. After queuing outside for a while we finally made it to the top, and were rewarded with an amazing vista of Istanbul as it sprawled out around us. Being a beautiful clear day it was quite a spectacular view! And who doesn’t appreciate a good observation deck? We certainly do! We enjoyed a cup of Turkish apple tea with a view towards the river. Eventually the time came to go back down the tower, and we started our search for Istiklal Avenue, suggested by my lonely planet guidebook as a ‘must see’ for any traveler. We thought we were on the right track, and were not very impressed with our ‘must see’ suggestion, as the main street we were on was kind of boring! It had big fancy hotels and that was about it. We found a small sidestreet that had some cool shops in it so we headed down there for a look. When the street came to an end we exited onto a busy, bustling street full of people and shops… it turns out THIS was the street we were looking for in the first place! Street signs are a bit of a novelty in Istanbul, and my map is not the most accurate of geographical expertise… but we got there in the end. We walked along and had a look around, before perusing the many restaurant options in search of somewhere for dinner. We eventually chose a place that looked warm and had more than one vegetarian option (one of the menus listed their only option as ‘Vegetarian Dish’, no explanation or list of ingredients!). I had Turkish spinach ravioli, which was more like gnocchi than ravioli as it was small parcels of potato mixed with spinach, with a white sauce on top. It was rather tasty! Once we were full to the bursting point we started the trek home, this started with a tram ride down the main street in an old tram, then onto the funicular railway for the trip down the hill, and one last change to the trolley to take us back to our hostel. A short walk and we were back in the warmth and ready for a good night of sleep!

Day Three

Today we headed off to the Bosphorous river to try and find a boat to take us on a cruise. As we walked along the river we were approached by many different people all selling tickets for cruises. We bargained with one and managed to get it for half price, the equivalent of $6 Australian. It was a medium sized boat, not the most fancy but it was sturdy and safe. We embarked on our two hour cruise down the Bosphorous, admiring the many palaces and mosques that line the waterfront. After our boat cruise we walked back through the spice bazaar for another helping of olives and golden balls… they were just as tasty the second time around! We did some shopping for leather jackets for Sam and Sarah, and then found some lunch. We shared some Turkish pides and headed back to the hostel. In the afternoon we decided to try the Turkish Baths, and we were in for quite an experience! It was a rather traditional experience, and we came out after two hours of being soaked, massaged, soaped, sauna-ed and washed feeling rather refreshed and cleansed! It was certainly an interesting experience.

Day Four

Today we had to move hostels as our tour started at a different place in Istanbul. We started the day with another trip to the Turkish Delight shop and walked around the area for a little, and did some more shopping for leather jackets. After that we headed to our new hotel and got settled before finding some lunch and enjoying an afternoon nap. We had a meeting that night to meet the rest of our group and the tour guide, and then headed back to Sultanahmet for dinner with our other group of friends – Georgie, Casey and Polly. The main restaurant street was absolutely packed with Australians and Kiwis, all enjoying a couple of drinks before heading to Gallipoli the following day. Just after we finished dinner, the power for the whole area cut out! We finished our evening by candlelight, and most people took their partying into the street, which apparently lasted until the early hours of the morning. We were glad we had moved out of the area!

Day Five & Six

Our tour began today with a visit to the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofia Museum. The Blue Mosque took nine years to build, and has the name because of the blue tiles used on the roof inside. It is a huge mosque, and is full of pretty tiles and painting. It is still used as a place of worship for people in the area, and is closed during prayer times. Outside of the mosque is the Hippodrome, which is basically a large courtyard where people would tie up their horses before going in to pray. It has a couple of columns, one was a present from the Egyptians, and the other is called the ‘Twisted Column’, and it was taken from Delphi, in Greece (I went there!). Next we headed over to the Aya Sofia Museum, which was originally a church, and was converted to a mosque. These days it is no longer used for worship and is a museum dedicated to the preservation of the artworks within its walls. There are many old mosaics from the Byzantine era that are on its walls, as well as many Christian murals in amongst the newer Muslim designs. The Aya Sofia is quite impressive as it towers above you, the dome overhead seems to hover there as the supporting columns are hidden within the walls. Both were quite amazing buildings, and it was exciting to finally see the insides after walking past them all week! After our tour of the Mosques we had some lunch (which was far from impressive after the awesome food we have had for the rest of the week… the vegetarian option was green and gooey and not at all appetizing! I sent it back and had salad and rice instead). Finally we boarded the bus and headed out of Istanbul, bound for Gallipoli Peninsula. It took us about 6 hours to get out to Gallipoli (or Gelibolu as the Turks call it). On arrival we were given a wristband, a plastic card that reminded us of our bus number, a bag of goodies and free chocolate cake! I was excited already, any place that gives me cake is a winner in my books! The bag of goodies was also exciting, it had a Gallipoli beanie, a poncho, a postcard and a book with the details of the ceremonies (one in English and one in Turkish). We were quite surprised as to how organized and well-run everything was, it was impressive. We passed through security and managed to find our friends (Georgie and co) who had saved us seats in the grand stand. We had pretty good seats, right in the middle with a good view of the screens and the stage. After getting ourselves organized and settled we found some food and had a chat for a while. I managed to get a little sleep by napping on the floor under the seats, and at some points just sitting on the chair and sleeping there. It wasn’t quality sleep at all but it made the night pass a little quicker! It got quite cold around 3am, and at 4am the MC for the evening woke everyone up so we could get ourselves organized before the official party arrived. At 5am the dawn service started, and I was struggling to keep my eyes open for the first part! After the dawn service concluded we had a little time before heading over to the Australian Memorial Service at Lone Pine, so we had some breakfast and took some photos of the floral tributes placed during the Dawn Service. We wandered through some of the cemeteries, specifically the Beach cemetery, where John Simpson Kirkpatrick is buried (the guy with the donkey), and we also went to Shell Green cemetery, which is the site where the Australians played cricket as a distraction during the retreat from Gallipoli. It was very moving to see all the graves, and to read the emotional dedications written by the families of the fallen. They had to pay per letter to have something put on the grave, and so the inscriptions are quite short. However, they are so poignant and seem to portray their sentiment in such minimal words. It was amazing to see the actual terrain of the peninsula, and to try and imagine climbing those steep hills… it would be tough enough without an enemy army firing at you! We climbed the steep path up to Lone Pine for the Australian Memorial Service, and again, it was another moving experience. After the service we had a bit of a wait before our buses came, because the Turkish and New Zealand services finished later than ours. We hung around in the sun on the grass for a bit, and some volunteers brought around some more free cake! I also took the opportunity to take some more photos and have a look at the Lone Pine cemetery, which is where the service took place. The original Lone Pine tree was destroyed during the shelling, but they replanted one there around 1920. Eventually it came time for the buses to start coming… and we waited… and waited… and waited! Ours finally came after an hour and a half of watching a continual line of buses go past. There was something like 400 buses there! It was nice to get out of the wind and into a comfy seat for the ride home. We collected the New Zealanders and began the long trip back to Istanbul. I slept pretty much all of the way! I very much enjoyed the opportunity to go out to Gallipoli, and I felt privileged to be able to go and pay tribute to those brave soldiers who fought for our country so many years ago. It was a humbling and memorable experience that I shall never forget.

Day Seven

Our tour finished after breakfast this morning, so we headed over to the Grand Bazaar for some souvenir shopping and general browsing. After that we went back to the Spice Bazaar (yes, again!) for some more tasty food and Golden Balls of yumminess! We had a light lunch of fresh bread rolls, olives and cheese, and perused the myriad of stalls selling their wares. Once we had exhausted our taste buds we headed back to our hostel for an afternoon nap… we were still trying to catch up on our sleep! After a street kebab we headed back to bed… it had been an exhausting couple of days.

Day Eight

Today was rather unexciting and uneventful, I had a nice sleep in then headed to the airport. I have really enjoyed my trip to Turkey – it is a country full of rich culture, tasty food and phenomenal architecture. I hope to return again one day and sample even more of its sights, sounds and shopping bargains!

Photos: ANZAC Day @ Gallipoli

cokeeffe — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:05:00 GMT

Camping overnight in ANZAC Cove and then experiencing the Dawn Service, followed by the Australian Memorial Service.

Photos: Turkish Delights!

cokeeffe — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:55:00 GMT

The sights of Istanbul - Blue Mosque, Archeological Museum, Aya Sofia, Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar, Bosphorous Boat Tour and Galata Tower

Greece... Ancient Ruins, Olives, Feta, Pistachios & Sun!

cokeeffe — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:43:00 GMT

Day One

After landing in Athens I made my way to the hostel, which involved a myriad of public transport in true Greek style… on the way from the airport the bus managed to clip the back of a car because it was partly in our lane! The car was fine but it was quite an eye opener to begin my trip with. I found all the Greek people I spoke to very helpful in getting me to the hostel, and found it with minimal difficulty. After reaching the hostel and settling in, I went for a walk around the local streets to get some groceries and figure out what was around. For dinner I got together with a couple of other backpackers staying at the hostel and went to get dinner at a local Greek Souvlaki takeout. We all ended up getting ‘Gyros’, which is like a kebab but with a thicker wrap, and hot chips inside with the salad. Yum! They even managed to make me a vegetarian version, which made me very happy indeed! After dinner we hung around in the hostel common room listening to music and playing chess, and debating the problems of the world. We headed out to a local bar for a couple of drinks before retiring to bed.

Day Two

Today was a MASSIVE day! I started off the day with a Greek donut as I walked through the city to the Acropolis, which took me past the Olympic Panathinaiko Stadium. Once I reached the Acropolis I headed up into the ruins and stood in awe of the view of Athens. You could see all the way to the ocean and the mountains, it was a beautifully clear day. From the top of the hill all of the buildings look the same – square and white! It was quite a spectacular sight. The ruins are so immense; they tower above the bustling crowds who flock to see them. You can see the details in the marble, and the sections of the pillars that stand tall. The mind boggles at the engineering achievements of people centuries before us! Once I had seen everything there was to see at the Acropolis, I headed down the hill to the Ancient Agora, which is the ruins of an Ancient marketplace. It pales in comparison to the sheer size of the Acropolis, but was very interesting in its own right. The path led on through the flea market at Monastiraki, and I walked through crowds of people as local businessmen plied their wares. They were selling just about anything you can think of! After the flea market I sat in the square and rested my feet for a little while before heading on to the Mitropoli Cathedral. I was a little disappointed as the Cathedral was all covered in scaffolding inside and out, so you couldn’t really appreciate its design. I continued on with my exploring, towards Syntgma Square, where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded by guards in traditional Greek costume. Behind the tomb is the Greek Parliament building, and next door is the National Gardens. I walked through the National Gardens, and through talking with one of the locals discovered there was a small zoo in them! I saw turtles, fish (some VERY big goldfish!), a variety of birds and other animals. By this time I was pretty tired so I find myself a nice shady patch of grass in the Gardens and rested my feet while I enjoyed another Greek specialty, I can’t remember what it is called but it is similar to a German pretzel, except not salty. It was rather tasty and was just what my tummy was asking for! After my nap I continued through the Gardens south towards the Temple of Olympia Zeus. Again, the pillars are immense and quite humbling as they soar into the sky above you… I may have knocked one over; I swear it was an accident! Check out the photos to see what happened… After giving Zeus my best, I headed back to the hostel for a well deserved siesta (quiet time is enforced by the police from 2.30-5pm, I’m only obeying orders!) before sharing dinner with some others at the hostel.

Day Three

I set off today to explore the Northern side of Athens. I started with a climb up Lykavittos Hill, to see the small Chapel at the top, not to mention the sprawling vista of the city. It was quite an impressive sight and well worth the view! I could see all the way to the surrounding mountains, and out to the islands in the bay. After enjoying the sights I headed back down the mountain and meandered my way west to the Archeological Museum. I marveled at the detail in the marble sculptures, and was impressed by the tiny bronze figurines that have been excavated from various sites around the area. My particular favourite sculpture is of Aphrodite beating off Pan with her shoe…check out the photos for the picture of the explanation! I also found a lovely courtyard in the middle of the museum, which had two turtles wandering around the garden, they appeared to be fighting as they head-butted each other, until one climbed on top of the other! (Guess what they were up to…) It was quite an amusing sight as people gathered around to watch and take photos. A little privacy for the animals please! Once I had explored the museum I headed back towards the hostel, and sampled some local Baklava (a Greek dessert). It was very, VERY tasty, although very sweet! Upon reaching the hostel I had another nap, and then headed down the road for some more tasty gyros. Following dinner we sat around and talked for a bit before heading off the bed, I had another big day tomorrow!

Day Four

Today was the first day of my two day tour around southern Greece, to the Peloponnese Region. We started by driving south to Corinth, and stopped for a look at the Corinth Canal, which is very deep and joins the Aegean and Corinthian Seas. It is big enough for a Cruise ship to pass through! We continued on to the Mycenae, the oldest prehistoric site in Greece, which dates back to the 16th Century BC. We wandered through the ruins of the castle and tried to envisage what it would have looked like all those years ago. I am constantly amazed by the fact that something that was around thousands of years ago is still standing today! Granted it’s not quite the magnificent castle it once was, but a fair amount of the walls and even some of the floor still stands proudly on the top of its hill, surveying the kingdom sprawling before it. Down the hill a short way from the castle ruins is what they believe to be the Tomb of Agamemnon; they are not sure as it was raided before archeologists discovered it. It is also possible that it was the Treasury of Atreus, who was Agamemnon’s father. Either way, it was quite an interesting design, with a large entrance way and an interior that was shaped like a beehive. There was a small square room off to one side that would have been the burial room, or store room for the treasure, depending on what its true purpose was. Once we had explored the ancient sites we headed to a local restaurant for some good quality local cuisine, and I certainly was not disappointed! Entrée was a tomato stuffed with savoury rice that tasted amazing, followed by a main meal of Greek salad, hot chips and tomato spaghetti. The spaghetti was so very tasty! Dessert was a fresh and juicy local mandarin, which while a little messy to eat was the perfect way to end the meal. After we were all stuffed full we headed to a local store where they sold replicas of ancient Greek sculptures, pottery and jewellery. Everything in the store was handmade, and we could even go downstairs and see the artists at work! It was quite interesting to see everything I had seen in the museum in Athens up close and personal… while it was not the real thing, it certainly looked authentic! I brought myself a pair of silver earrings with the traditional Greek symbol for eternal life. After our small shopping spree we piled back onto the bus for a bit of a doze as we drove through the countryside to Nafpoli, the original capital of Greece in ancient times. Those of us who were staying for the two day tour were dropped at our hotel, whereas the rest of the group that were only doing a one day tour continued on with their day. Once I had settled in and got myself organized I headed out for a wander around the local streets of this idyllic Greek seaside town. Overlooking the town is a castle, and in the bay there is another small castle out on a small island. The waterfront is lined with palm trees, tourists and restaurants, and the small streets are filled with souvenir shops and cafes. This is certainly a town that survives on tourism! Once I had explored for a little while I headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before I got ready to find somewhere for dinner… sightseeing is tiring business! Once I unearthed myself from my napping state I headed down to the waterfront to watch the sun set over the bay. It was quite a beautiful sight as the golden disc of the sun sank gracefully behind a small stretch of clouds, and then eventually behind the mountain range. It was a very peaceful time of day, completed by the murmurs of conversation filtering out from the surrounding café’s and the whistling of an English gentlemen as he walked up and down the foreshore. Once the sun had disappeared for the day I set off on a search of some dinner, no small feat as I was still quite full from my Greek lunch and wasn’t entirely sure what I felt like eating! After walking up and down a couple of streets and checking out some menus I eventually settled for a small place called ‘Popeye’, which had burgers, pizza and pasta. Despite telling myself that all I wanted was a salad, I ended up getting a ‘Greca’ pizza, which had feta, olives, capers, tomato and oregano… all of my favourite things! It was absolutely amazing, certainly one of the best pizzas I have had! It was accompanied by a large glass of local red wine and a good book on my Kindle, a pleasant evening really. After finishing dinner I went back down to the waterfront and took some photos of the castle in the bay as it was lit up. Unfortunately the castle on the hill behind the town is not lit up at night, which was a little disappointing.

Day Five

I had a morning to explore Nafplio before the bus came to collect me, so I decided to climb up to the castle that overlooks the town. I started off with a walk around the base of the cliff next to the water, a slightly circuitous route but one that afforded more amazing views of the bay and surrounding mountain ranges. The water looked rather inviting, and it was very tempting to jump in! I continued on to the castle steps, and decided to count them on the way up. I lost track a little bit when I stopped to take some photos, but I counted very close to 1000, which was confirmed by the lady in the ticket booth as fairly accurate. It was a long way up! It was definitely worth it though; the views of the town and surrounding harbor and valley were amazing. There were many school groups and families visiting the castle, all speaking different languages around you. It was quite a bizarre archeological site in that you were free to walk wherever you wanted around the castle, including climbing up on its walls! At one point I stepped up onto a low wall to take a photo, and realized there was nothing stopping me from falling down the cliff into the water on the other side. The water was a phenomenal shade of blue and crystal clear at the edges and it stretches on to the mountains that surround the valley. The buildings are a cream and orange block pattern against the vivid green fields. Yes… it was definitely worth the climb! Unfortunately it came time for me to depart this lovely castle, so I headed down all those steps towards the town. I found myself some watermelon gelati from one of the many shops, and took it to the waterfront to enjoy whilst reading my book for a little while before heading back to the hotel to be collected by the tour. From Nafplio we headed back towards Athens via Epidaurus, an ancient open air theatre that dates back to 330-320BC. It holds around 14000 people and is renowned for having amazing acoustics. This was proven correct by a couple of brave tourists who tested out their operatic voices on the stage! The sound carried right up to the back of the theatre without a problem, and was crystal clear in quality. It is quite interesting to see how well this theatre has survived; it could almost be used as for modern day performances. Once we had seen all there was to be seen in Epidaurus we boarded the bus once more and headed back to Athens. Apparently it is quite a scenic drive, but I hate to admit that I napped most of it as I was exhausted!

Day Six

This morning I started on my next two day tour, heading north this time to Delphi and the Meteora Monasteries near Kalambaka. We started off with a lengthy bus ride (3.5 hours) to Delphi where we drove through rolling hills covered in olive and pistachio trees. Along the way we were told stories and legends from ancient Greece about the local area and the site we were to visit, Delphi. On arrival at Delphi we explored the archeological site which is the ruins of the temple of Apollo. It is believed this is also where the Oracles were, who harnessed the power of Apollo and were able to deliver prophecies about the future (mostly rather vague apparently!). The ruins where high up on a hill and looked down to a great view across the valley, it was quite spectacular! After Delphi we continued on north towards Meteora, stopping along the way at Thermopylae to take some photos of the monuments to the battles that occurred there in ancient times. It was quite a long drive and with the afternoon sun streaming through the windows most of us took the opportunity to have a much needed nap. I woke up every now and again to have a look around and enjoy the scenery before dozing off once more. On arrival in Kalambaka we were treated to a spectacular view of the Meteora Monasteries, perched high up on their rocky cliffs. There are 6 remaining, but only one is visible from the road as the others are hidden away. We will get to explore two of them tomorrow, which should be quite special. Tonight though we checked into our hotel (at the foot of the cliffs) and enjoyed dinner together.

Day Seven

After putting up with a rowdy group of Italian schoolchildren mucking about in the hotel for most of the night, we all emerged bleary eyed for the hotel buffet breakfast. While the decent spread of food managed to cheer our spirits sufficiently, we were all feeling the effects of a disrupted night of sleep! The teachers attached to the group were not looking altogether impressed with the behavior of their charges either. We piled onto the bus and headed to our first stop of the day, a demonstration of Byzantine Icon making techniques. It was interesting to hear a little more about some of the types of art that I had studied at school, and that is very common in a lot of Greek churches. We perused the gift shop and then continued on our way to the amazing Meteora Monasteries. There are six monasteries left of the original 21-24, and today we visited two of them. The original monastery was called Meteora, which comes from the Greek word that means “from the sky”, as the monastery was perched so high up in the rocks. Gradually more were added, and the name became a collective term for all of the monasteries and nunneries. The buildings were built on top of rocky outcrops that date back to the time when the region was covered by the sea, and they were so difficult to get to that the monks and nuns would have to be pulled up in a giant net! The first visit was to a nunnery called St Stephens. It is dedicated both to St Stephens and to St Haralambos, a very popular Greek saint. The church itself houses St Haralambos’ skull, which draws a lot of believers. It was built in the 18th century, and has been rebuilt in more recent times after it was destroyed (in the war I believe). The inside walls of the church were completely covered with frescos depicting the life of St Haralambos, and the multiple ways in which he was tortured for his beliefs. These morbid paintings were intended to provide courage to those who sheltered there, in the way of showing them that they were not the only ones to suffer for their faith. Further around the church were various paintings of saints, Jesus, Mary and God painted on the very peak of the roof, looking down at all those within the church. It was quite interesting to compare the similarities and differences to a standard Catholic church! The second monastery we visited was another nunnery, called St Roussanou. This was a much smaller building, and the church was quite small and had all of the original paintings on the walls. Again, it was adorned with images of the suffering St Roussanou, with the same intentions as the previous church. Both churches followed the same general pattern in their decoration, with the key images of God, Mary, Jesus, the twelve apostles and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all in the same place. This church also had a wall dedicated to the day of reckoning. It was built during the 14th century, and was used as a place of refuge during the Turkish invasion. After we left this monastery we drove a little further down the rock forest and stopped for a photo opportunity of another monastery, called St. Nicholas. We also had a view of a cave about 50m up one of the rocks that has a myriad of different coloured scarves flying in it. The local boys have a tradition on St George’s day that they climb up to the cave and hang the scarf of their girlfriend (or “the one they will marry”) in the cave. Of course, come the next year they can always hang a different scarf as long as they are willing to make the climb! Lunch was at a restaurant oozing with tradition Greek character. The walls were decorated with all sorts of memorabilia from times gone by, and it was a very traditional Greek experience as we were welcomed into the kitchen where the grandma of the family cooks! She had about eight large pots lined up of different Greek dishes, and after explaining what they all were we could choose whichever we would like. I had some vegetables, roast potatoes and rice, which was very tasty, even though I couldn’t eat a large proportion of the vegetables, as they had come from a pot that also had lamb! The Greeks don’t really understand vegetarians… After lunch myself and a couple of girls I had made friends with (Sandy and Amanda) did a little shopping and I bought some fresh strawberries from the local market, which I ate on the bus on the way back. It was a very long bus ride – five and a half hours! I was rather glad to make it back to the hostel that evening and enjoy some sleep.

Day Eight

I was up early this morning in order to make it to my one day cruise around the Greek islands. We left the dock at 8am on board the good ship Platytera. Once we set off we were invited to learn the Greek dance, the Zorba, which was entertaining to watch! When our dancing lessons ended it was time to disembark at the first island for the day, Hydra. This island has no cars, only donkeys! The donkeys were all lined up along the dock as a small cargo ship was unloading, and each donkey had quite a large load strapped onto its back… boxes marked ‘fragile’, plants, sacks of veggies… they carried it all! There were also a lot of cats; at least 10 were waiting at the end of the gangway when we disembarked from our boat. They were very tame, and very affectionate, although I’m not sure if they carried any diseases or not! I walked along the small harbor and around the point to what they call their ‘beach’. It was all rocks, and big rocks, not even small pebbles! The water was crystal clear however, and had the sun been shining I would have dipped my toes in. It remained overcast for the day, but the sun did make a couple of small appearances just after lunch time. Once we had explored Hydra for an hour or so we were back onto the boat for lunch, a three course affair that was accompanied by traditional Greek music played by the onboard musicians. By the time lunch had finished it was time to disembark at our next port of call, the small island of Poros. We only had about 45 minutes here, so I climbed up to the clock tower, hoping for a good view of the harbor and surrounding town… I was a bit disappointed however as the clock tower was fenced off and it was difficult to get a clear view over the foliage! I took a couple anyway and headed back to the main street. I went for a walk up and down the harbor before it was time to get back onto the boat to head to our final island. After another hour sailing we arrived at the large island of Aegina, which is where they grow a lot of pistachio nuts! I found a shop dedicated to everything that could possibly be made out of pistachios, which made me very happy indeed. I bought myself a bag of them to enjoy. I went for a walk along the harbor again, perusing the never ending street of cafés, restaurants and souvenir shops. I was planning on heading down to the small stretch of sand at the end of the harbor when I came across two familiar faces – Amanda and Sandy, my friends that I met on my tour to Meteora! We decided to head to a café for some waffles and ice cream while we were awaiting our respective boats departures. The weather looked like rain so the prospect of sitting on a beach in the rain was clearly second to the idea of waffles and ice cream! I ended up having some pistachio gelati which, despite the fact that it was bright green, was rather tasty! Once we boarded the boat once more we were treated to a display of professional Greek dancing which was amusing to see! Once again, audience participation was encouraged, and ended in a lady in her sixties being thrown over the shoulders of a young man and spun around! A traditional move in one of the Greek dances, but quite a shock to the lady who volunteered! Amusing for the rest of us however… As we drew into the port in Athens the rain was pouring down, we raced for the buses that would take us back to our hotels and I had a quick nap on the way into the city centre. Once I reached my hostel I was ready for some dinner, a hot shower and a good night’s sleep! I enjoyed some Ouzo with some others over dinner, which tastes like liquorice and is quite nice.

Day Nine

Unfortunately today I had to leave Athens to head north, as I started my trek over to Turkey. I boarded my train and travelled 5 hours up to Thessaloniki. I was a little apprehensive about finding the hostel, as on their website some of the reviews were from people who got lost, but I was armed with a myriad of maps and written instructions, and following them carefully I found the place with no problems. Street signs are a bit of a novelty in Greece, especially for smaller streets! The hostel is on a small backstreet about 15 minutes walk from the town centre, right up near the old town walls. The owner happened to be out the front when I was walking up the street, and spotted me straight away. I stick out like a sore thumb with my giant backpack (that I have now dubbed ‘Sausage’, as it looks like a blue and grey sausage. I’m terribly creative and original, I know). I got settled in and then one of the people staying here showed me where to find some food. Everything is closed on a Sunday! I managed to find some half decent pizza and enjoyed a quiet early dinner before settling down for the night. I am in a room by myself, and looking forward to an uninterrupted night of sleep!

Day Ten & Eleven

I spent these two days relaxing and exploring Thessaloniki. It isn’t as exciting as the other places I have been, but it has a lot of old Byzantine era churches, although some of them are really run down. The old city walls snake in and out of the current town centre, and there are new and old buildings everywhere. It is a port city, and the water in the bay is clear but has a lot of rubbish floating in it. I spent most of the first day walking around the waterfront and taking photos, though the weather was overcast and quite cold. There are a lot of random stray dogs running around, and one took a liking to me and followed me for a while. I was fine with it following me, it was nice to have a companion of sorts, but then it jumped up on me a couple of times so I shooed it away. The second day I spent organizing transport to get to Istanbul (turns out you can’t catch a train straight there, you have to go through Sofia which takes 30 hours!). I also relaxed on the balcony of my hostel with a book and some snacks… just what I needed after the busy holiday I have had so far! I am looking forward to going to Istanbul; I think it is going to be a fun-filled week! I’m also looking forward to meeting up with my friends, Sarah and Sam; it will be nice to have some friends to share the good times with. I’m catching a bus at 10pm tonight to Istanbul, which should get in around 8.30am the next day… then to find my hostel!

So this concludes my time in Greece… I have had an amazing time seeing the ancient ruins, sampling a plethora of traditional (and not so traditional) food and simply enjoying the sun! I look forward to returning again someday, maybe to spend some more time over on the islands and explore more of the small towns… but for now, on to Turkey!

Photos: Thessaloniki

cokeeffe — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:27:00 GMT

Thessaloniki

Photos: Greek Islands

cokeeffe — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 02:25:00 GMT

Hydra, Aegina & Poros

Photos: Northern Greece

cokeeffe — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:43:00 GMT

Delphi, Thermopylae, Meteora Monasteries, Kalambaka

Photos: Peloponnese (Southern Greece)

cokeeffe — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:09:00 GMT

Corinth, Mycenae, Nafplio & Epidaurus